I will be heading to L.A. area for the second half of October. Droid Behavior is making the mistake of having a metal act open up their night but it seems like I'll be among my kind with Eustachian and Richard Devine. The show, for certain, will be massive! More so than the NAMM show earlier this year. As usual, I'll be bringing one my Doepfer suitcases full of goodies and an assortment of pedals. Come out and say 'HAIL AND HORNS!' Get your tickets: Here!More information: Here!

9/29/2008

9/23/2008

Since I've been using my guitar more often, I too have noticed that change: my smile has increased by 7% and she totally let's me webcam with her almost every night. Now if I can get my parents to stop dressing me and quit the redundant 'as long as you're under my roof' speech.Source: The Internet - (Apparently some ad? Someone help us hunt it down)

9/22/2008

Greetings! I've been slow on the updating (not that I need to explain myself to you) because I'm moving and I'm assuming Justin isn't because he's elbow deep in post production. While we endure this light chaos, an artist came through with an interview. The Great Mundane responded ideally to our questionnaire. I'm sure you're already playing the video rather than reading this so enjoy! All credits go to him. Readable interview: Here

Background I was born in Farmington Hills, Michigan, in 1985. I promised myself in High School that I would move away when I graduated, so I did. I moved to Chicago in the fall of 2003 and I will be here until October 2008, then I'm driving across the country to spend some time in Seattle, Portland, and San Fran and figure out where I want to set up shop. My parents put me in piano lessons when I was about 5 years old, so since 1990. When I got into 6th grade I began playing bass and continued to do so until I was a sophomore in high school. High school was about the time that I started dabbling as a composer. The majority of the work was hip hop influenced until I moved to chicago. This is where I developed my sound as an electronic musician. That being said I've been composing as electronic musician for 5 years.

What are your current favorite pieces of hardware? I really have not had a lot of hardware encounters. I'm big on using whatever is at my disposal and making the best of it. I've had a crush on the Korg mono/poly for quite some time. I like anything warm and thick...ummm...yea.

What are some softwares or plugins you prefer?Reason... I love that program...I've spent hours and hours pulling my hair out trying to figure out how to make that program put out a satisfying sound. It can really be a versatile tool if you use it's flaws and kinks to your advantage. The limitations force me to find new ways to make the sound that I want which often results in sounds that I never expected. If I need to record or do any sound design, I'm usually rocken Pro-tools.

How does your physical space and surroundings influence your workflow? Besides the technical aspects like the space's size, shape and the space consuming objects, I think its really important to feel comfortable, have minimal distractions, and nice neighbors that let you rock whenever you get that urge or feel inspired. I'm very easily distracted so I also prefer to be alone while I'm working.

Could you describe what you might think your ideal location would be?I actually really like it here in Chicago. But I'm leaving in October to explore the country and maybe find out where else I would like to be. As long as the city has a scene and the space meets the requirements I listed above I think I can make it work.

What was the first piece of hardware you remember obtaining? I hacked a hot pink Starring Me keyboard from Target. Shit's hot. I just picked up a Monticello organ. I found in the basement of a Jewish Community Center, and now it's sitting in my mom's living room because I can't bring it with me on the road.

What is on your current 'wish list'?I'm really looking into the Novation remote series. Mainly for its ease of use and reliability.

Do you have a setup for live performances? Everything listed above except for the monitors and the M-box. I can usually fit everything into about 3 bags, not including my fold up table.

How many physical locations have you had your studio setup in over time and how have they changed? Holy shit... I've moved it 7-8 times. I've moved at least once a year since I've lived in Chicago not including switching rooms because of break ups and new roommates. I try to keep everything pretty much the same. The gear has evolved over time but I try to keep my furniture and everything placed the same so I can maintain some sort of consistency from apt to apt.

Are you involved in any extra curriculars?I work for Big House Castings as an Audio Engineer until I hit the road. Basically I track edit and mix commercials for VO talent. I've done a bit of freelance compostion/sound design work for commercials and indie films.

9/08/2008

I found a random picture of our buddy Charlie Cooper of Telefon Tel Aviv from Josh Eustis's Flickr. I haven't seen this dude in a long ass while, so it's nice to see him working on the new album fiddling away with that delay.

9/04/2008

It's been a long time since our last Workspace and Environment entry. Most of the artists we're waiting for are on tour and enjoying summer but fear not, the grasp of fall and winter are coming and we'll be overflowing with domesticated artists willing to share their workspace and answer our questions. Here is a modest interview from The Sight Below from Ghostly International, also be sure to check out the excellent free EP that was recently released.

How long have you been involved with making music and what keeps you motivated?

Lexicon LXP-5 and LXP-1. I love the LXP-5's 12-bit pitch shifting reverb. I also like this German-made Schmidt bow I recently purchased and an old Kay guitar somebody gave me for my birthday. I swear by the SPX-90's reverse reverb.

What are some softwares or plugins you prefer?

I use Cubase for the most part. I like the Voxengo and URS plugins a lot. Lovely compressors and eq's. URS makes a great SSL emulation channel strip!

How does your physical space and surroundings influence your workflow?

Besides the classic design of a 4-oscillator polysynth with analog filters, the RozzBox features a bunch of mean functions that can't be found on any other synthesizer, such as the Hacker, the chaotic filtermode, switchable aliasing of the oscillators and much more! When you put these all together, they can easily turn those sweet little analog pads into a fiendish hellfire!

Well that's our kind of synth! I must have missed this one when it was announced but it appears to be (almost) shipping now via Big City Music. Although, this batch is going to everyone that pre-ordered, it looks like there will be another shipment on the way soon.